1. Electric Circuits Fall, 2014
Chapter 9
Capacitance

2. 9.1 Introduction
9.1 Introduction
The next two chapters will introduce two new linear circuit elements:
The capacitor.
The inductor.
Unlike resistors, these elements do not dissipate energy.
They instead store energy.
We will also look at how to analyze them in a circuit.

3. 9.2 Capacitors
9.2 Capacitors
A capacitor is a passive element that stores energy in its electric field
It consists of two conducting plates separated by an insulator (or dielectric)
The plates are typically aluminum foil.
The dielectric is often air, ceramic, paper, plastic, or mica .

4. 9.2 Capacitors
Capacitors II
When a voltage source v is connected to the capacitor, the source deposits a positive charge q on one plate and a negative charge –q on the other.
The charges will be equal in magnitude
The amount of charge is proportional to the voltage:
Where C is the capacitance

5. Capacitors III The unit of capacitance is the Farad (F)
One Farad is 1 Coulomb/Volt
Most capacitors are rated in picofarad (pF) and microfarad (μF)
Capacitance is determined by the geometry of the capacitor:

6. 9.2 Capacitors
Stored Energy
The current passing into a capacitor during charging for a time, t, can be defined as:
The energy stored in the capacitor will be:

7. Example and Problem Example 9.1 Calculate the charge.
9.2 Capacitors
Example and Problem
Example 9.1 Calculate the charge.
Practice Problem 9.1 (a) Calculate the charge. (b) Find the energy.

8. 9.3 Electric Fields Capacitors store their energy in electric fields
The fields originate from the charges stored on the plates.
The electric flux, Ψ, between parallel plates of area A with charge Q is:
The electric flux density is:

9. 9.3 Electric Fields
Electric Fields
The electric field strength E is inversely proportional to the plate spacing.
The field and the flux density are related: here  is the permittivity of the dielectric.
These relationships may be combined in order to develop a formula for the capacitance of a parallel plate capacitor or

10. 9.3 Electric Fields
Capacitance Value
As can be seen, geometry and materials determine the value of the capacitor:
Larger surface area means bigger capacitance.
The smaller spacing between the plates also increases capacitance
Higher permittivity increases capacitance

11. Dielectric Properties
9.3 Electric Fields
Dielectric Properties
Materials and their dielectric constants

12. Example and Problem Example 9.2 Calculate the capacitance.
9.3 Electric Fields
Example and Problem
Example 9.2 Calculate the capacitance.
Practice Problem 9.2 Determine the capacitance.

13. 9.4 Types of Capacitors
9.4 Types of Capacitors
The most common types of capacitors are film capacitors with polyester, polystyrene, or mica.
To save space, these are often rolled up before being housed in metal or plastic films
Electrolytic caps (shown here) have a very high capacitance

14. 9.4 Types of Capacitors
Types of Capacitors II
Trimmer caps have a range of values that they can be set to
Variable air caps can be adjusted by turning a shaft attached to a set of moveable plates

15. Applications for Capacitors
9.4 Types of Capacitors
Applications for Capacitors
Capacitors have a wide range of applications, some of which are:
Blocking DC
Passing AC
Shift phase
Store energy
Suppress noise
Start motors

16. 9.5 Series and Parallel Capacitors
We learned with resistors that applying the equivalent series and parallel combinations can simply many circuits.
Starting with N parallel capacitors, one can note that the voltages on all the caps are the same
Applying KCL:

17. 9.5 Series and Parallel Capacitors
Parallel Capacitors II
Taking into consideration the current voltage relationship of each capacitor:
Thus
From this we find that parallel capacitors combine as the sum of all capacitance

18. 9.5 Series and Parallel Capacitors
Series Capacitors
Turning our attention to a series arrangement of capacitors:
Here each capacitor shares the same current
Applying KVL to the loop:
Now apply the voltage current relationship

19. 9.5 Series and Parallel Capacitors
Series Capacitors II
Thus
From this we see that the series combination of capacitors resembles the parallel combination of resistors.

20. 9.5 Series and Parallel Capacitors
Combining capacitors in parallel is equivalent to increasing the surface area of the capacitors:
This would lead to an increased overall capacitance (as is observed)
A series combination can be seen as increasing the total plate separation
This would result in a decrease in capacitance (as is observed)

21. 9.5 Series and Parallel Capacitors
Example and Problem
Example 9.3 (a) Determine the total capacitance. (b) Find the total energy stored.
Example 9.5 Find the voltage.

22. 9.6 Current Voltage Relationship
Using the formula for the charge stored in a capacitor, we can find the current voltage relationship
Take the first derivative with respect to time gives:
This assumes the passive sign convention

23. 9.6 Current Voltage Relationship
Properties of Capacitors
For ideal capacitors, when the voltage is not changing, the current through the capacitor is zero.
with DC applied to the terminals no current will flow.
Except, the voltage on the capacitor’s plates can’t change instantaneously.
An abrupt change in voltage would require an infinite current!
This means if the voltage on the cap does not equal the applied voltage, charge will flow and the voltage will finally reach the applied voltage.

24. 9.6 Current Voltage Relationship
Properties of Capacitors II
An ideal capacitor does not dissipate energy, meaning stored energy may be retrieved later
A real capacitor has a parallel-model leakage resistance, leading to a slow loss of the stored energy internally
This resistance is typically very high, on the order of 100 MΩ and thus can be ignored for many circuit applications.

25. 9.6 Current Voltage Relationship
Example and Problem
Example 9.6 Determine current.
Example 9.7 Obtain energy stored.

26. 9.7 Charging and Discharging a Capacitor
Charging Cycle
Consider a battery connected in series to a capacitor and a resistor.
Assume that the capacitor is not charged at first.
At t=0 the switch is closed.

27. 9.7 Charging and Discharging a Capacitor
Charging Cycle II
At any time the capacitor voltage is:
Where V0 is the initial voltage.
Since V0=0 this can be written as:

28. 9.7 Charging and Discharging a Capacitor
Charging Cycle III
From this the charging current is:
The time it takes to charge to 1/e of the full charge, or 36.8% is called the time constant  for the circuit.

29. 9.7 Charging and Discharging a Capacitor
Charging Current
Once again we can determine the charging current from the resistor’s voltage drop or
As can be seen, the current decreases towards zero as time goes on.

30. 9.7 Charging and Discharging a Capacitor
For discharging we consider the source free RC circuit shown here.
The initial voltage on the capacitor is V0.
The resulting voltage as a function of time is:

31. 9.7 Charging and Discharging a Capacitor
Discharging II
After five time constants, the capacitor has discharged to less than 1% of its starting value.
This is regarded as the transient time.
The capacitor is typically considered to be fully charged or discharged after this amount of time.

32. 9.7 Charging and Discharging a Capacitor
Example and Problem
Example 9.8 (a) Calculate the transient period. (b) Find vC, vR, and i.
Example Calculate the initial energy.

33. Homework Read Text Chapter 10. Inductance, pp. 267-285
Prepare Presentation
Solve Problems 9.5, 9.10, 9.15, 9.22, 9.40, 9.44, 9.47
Computer Analysis 9.67